Goodbye Freddy

Very sadly, we had our cat Fred put to sleep tonight. After a long stretch of low-level chronic kidney failure, Freddy's kidneys failed this week, starting on Monday, I'd guess.

He'd been pretty gimpy for a year or two but it seemed to get much worse this week & he was pretty immobile for the past few days, though he did somehow manage to drag himself up the stairs & jump up into our bed one last time today--that was where I found him this afternoon. When the vet checked him out today, all of his kidney readings were about 4 times higher than the upper limit for healthy readings. He has had long term kidney issues so we've been monitoring the levels for a few years but these numbers were way worse than they were just back at the end of January, which the vet said indicated kidney failure.  Plus his blood glucose level was well into the elevated range for diabetes, which we had long worried about with Freddy. Rather than subject him to a lengthy hospital stay to try and get the kidney and diabetes under control temporarily, we decided that it was time to say goodbye to our beloved Freddy.

It was a very sad day for all of us. Iris said bye-bye to Freddy too :(

Here's one of my favorite Fred photos. It was take about 4 years ago with one of my old cell phones (which is why it's so low-res) but I think it captures Fred's personality perfectly, his whole, "this is how I am & you love me or you don't, whatev!" attitude.

Goodbye Freddy. You'll be in our thoughts for a long time to come.

Angela & Fred

Screenshot from this week's episode of The Office

Iris is finally crawling

We're excited that Iris started crawling last week. She's not that quick but it'll be a matter of time before she's zipping around on her hands and knees. Guess who's not too excited about Iris's progress.

Chase/WaMu Update

We had an all-employee conference call earlier today and learned that all WaMu employees will find out on December 1 which of 3 groups we all fall into:

1) getting laid off right away
2) have transition jobs (short term, 4 or 5 months probably)
3) full time jobs w/Chase.

Here's the story from the Seattle Times.

The feeling in my group from the few people I've discussed this with, is that our group will likely fall into the 2nd category--short term tranmsition jobs. This is all a guess on our part so we'll see what happens in December, I suppose.

I'll be fine--been laid off before and probably will again, so don't worry too much about me.
Here's a cute picture of Fred to cheer you all up

Fred update

Apparently I've been lax on news about our older child, so here's a Fred update. He finished his hydro-therapy last Saturday, with session #8. It definitely helped him a lot--he's walking much better than he was a few months ago, though he still has a little hitch in his step from his rear right leg. He also still doesn't put much weight on his front right leg, but we already knew about his arthritis in his elbow there, so that part's not too much of a surprise.

He's still not skipping any meals so we figure he's feeling all right, plus he's made it up the stairs to bother us for his breakfast quite a few times, so we're hoping he'll be around for a few more birthdays, at least.

Here's another video of him in the tank:

Busy Week

Last weekend we were very busy and it has continued into this week, with Irene's sisters visiting, driving down to Portland, Fred's 2nd aqua rehab visit (of 8 for his bum knee) we were go-go-go all weeekend. Here are some of the highlights:

Here's a video of Freddy on the treadmill in the hydrotherapy tank. (yeah, I know, we're getting the cat hydrotherapy. It's Fred--what can I say?)


And here's one of our nephew Ryan breaking a board blindfolded during a Tae Kwon Do demonstration (he has a black belt!)


And here's your weekly dose of Iris photos, on a swing down in Portland and enjoying some sweet potatoes. I think the second one here is my new favorite pic of Iris - I just love her expression in it--she's like "Don't BS me, dad!"

Freddy update; Project ipod update

Freddy's bum knee has been quite an issue in our house. He's been on some pain killers which give him constipation, and when he does finally do his evil business, he hasn't always been able to find the box. It was really bad in the wee hours of Tuesday morning when I came down to check on him & he was asleep on top of some dirty nuggets right on his tuffet. I cleaned him and the tuffet up & put him back to bed.

Thankfully, his knee seems to have improved somewhat and he's getting around the house much better--even jumping up to sleep in our bed during the day, so he hasn't had to take any more of Dr. Spaceman's pain pills for a few days and he's been much more successful at finding/using the box for his scud missiles. We're taking him to the vet again Saturday morning & hope that he'll be doing even better by then. Thanks to everyone who's asked about him--we all appreciate your concern.

Ipod project update:
I filled up my 80Gig ipod a couple weeks ago and seem to be in the homestretch of my quest to listen to all the songs on it from A to Z.

Right now song #14763 (of 16383) is playing. It's "Velvet Snow" by Kings of Leon, from their Aha Shake Heartbreak cd. A good album, I say. If you were asking, I mean.

This means I have 1620 songs left - the end is in sight! Hopefully by the end of 2008 my quest will be complete. oops--it just switched to "Venice Queen" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. That means only 1619 to go!

Iris Win Streak Over, Freddy has bum knee, new Weezer!

Iris' win streak is over at 5 games, as the Mariners blew a 2-0 8th inning lead and lost to the A's 4-2 on Sunday. We think the good luck string was broken when we decided to leave just before the A's 4-run rally started. It was raining pretty good & the roof wasn't closed so we decided to head out early, since the Ms were up 2-0 in the 8th. By the time we got down to the lower level, the A's had loaded em up with no outs and then took the lead. Kris texted me that we better get Iris back up to the seats, but by the time we got back to the upper deck the A's had scored 4 times, and it was pretty much over. The Ms went down meekly in the 8th & 9th and Iris' unbeaten lifetime record was history.

Here's the Martel family at the gameLook - I found my thumb!

We had more bad news on Sunday as Fred the cat woke us up with a very bad limp - he could barely move & wasn't putting any weight on his right rear leg. I feared the worst, since we already know that he has arthritis in his lower spine, just above his hip. I gave him a good brushing Sunday night & noticed he didn't flinch too badly when I was near his hip, though his foot seemed very sensitive. Since our vet is only open Tuesday-Saturday, I thought that we'd take a wait and see approach and see how he was on Monday, since he seemed a little better Sunday night than he had been that morning.

We got home from work last night & he was still limping pretty badly so I decided to bring him to the emergency vet, which is open overnight when all the other vets are closed. I hate going to that place - seems like a lot of the animals that get brought in there have taken their last ride. But it went OK for Freddy--after a couple xrays and an exam, his diagnosis is just a $350 sore knee. They gave him some narcotics to help with the pain and prescribed lots of rest, which Freddy is only too happy to comply with. We still don't know what happened or how he hurt himself but the extra lbs he carries around most likely had a lot to do with it.

That's enough bad news. here's some good - Weezer has a new album coming out in June - you can stream their new single Pork & Beans on weezer.com - I like it!

Happy Valentine's Day

Can't you see I'm trying to get some sleep here? I think I hear a crying baby.

Thanks for the outfit pepere.

Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?

Update on Fred

With all the excitement (and drama) with Iris, we've neglected to mention Fred in any recent postings. Fred is now 14 1/2 years old, and he's really showing his age. He's taking glucosamine and pain medication to help with his arthritis. Once again, we're trying to get him to lose weight since being overweight worsens his pain. He weighs in about 16.5 pounds now. I'm not sure how much weight he can drop since he's already on a diet (though Jim has been known to offer food scraps off his dinner plate occasionally). Too bad it'll be awhile before Iris can chase Fred around to help with the weight loss.

Fred has been getting acupuncture to help with his pain (and possibly with early signs of kidney failure). He's not completely happy about the treatments, but they have been working. He appears to walk around with less signs of pain after his appointments. It's hard to see in the photo but Fred has about 8-9 needles in him.

Jim's last day of family leave

Today is Jim's last day home before returning back to work. I can't say how much help he's been with Iris. Iris loves her daddy, and I'm sure she'll be as sad as I will be to say goodbye to him tomorrow morning. It's hard to believe that Iris will be 8 weeks old tomorrow. Stay tuned for updates when Iris has her 2-month check up next week. She'll be getting her first shots then. Let's hope she doesn't scream her head off at the doctor's office.

Here's a pic of Jim's favorite way to spend time with Iris (and Fred).

Fred's not too happy with Mom

I gave Fred a bath the other day, and he's still not "talking" to me. He sometimes have a problem with dander so I have to use a special shampoo that the vet recommended. The big problem is that I have to leave the lather on for 10-15 minutes which seems like an eternity when wrangling a wet cat. Sorry I couldn't provide pictures of Fred in the bath, but I think this photo sums up what Fred thinks of his Mom.

Fat cat found - and it's not Fred

Who wouldn't want to adopt this cuddly monster of a cat? According to the paper, this kitty weighs about 20 pounds, about 2 pounds heavier than Fred. I guess Fred is just big boned. Click here to read the article in today's Seattle Times.

Sweet dreams

Don't Try This at Home

As all our readers are fans of Fred Martel, you all know how much this cat has cost Jim and me in blood, sweat and tears (but we still love him to death). He hasn't been himself since late last week, looking sad and lacking an appetite. The loss of appetite really had us worry since Fred usually scarfs his food within minutes of it hitting his bowl. You can keep time since he always give you a 15 minute warning before each of his daily feedings at 7:30am, 5pm and 11pm.

We tried new food (salmon and sweet pea, and turkducken) but to no avail. Rather than pay through the nose for an emergency vet visit, Jim dropped him off at vet this morning. Diagnosis: Fred's constipated. The little guy got an enema, and it did the trick. The vet said Fred's happily eating duck and peas to replenish his strength from the trauma.

I can't imagine how the treatment went but Jim found this website, http://www.catenema.com/cat1.html, that's hilarious. Poor poor Fred. Jim and I never considered doing this ourselves.

fred

fred
Originally uploaded by iheartfred.

Here's the big guy himself -- living the life